After watching last season’s drubbing on television, Cameron Smith gets a shot at Oregon

Almost a year ago, USC was enduring its worst defensive performance of the season, a 48-28 shellacking by Oregon. One of the Trojans’ best defensive players, Cameron Smith, was left to watch on television.

“I watched it at a buddy’s house,” Smith said. “It was rough.”

Oregon wracked up 578 yards. Vernon Adams Jr. threw for 407 yards, averaging 16.3 yards per pass attempt, and passed for six touchdowns.

Smith plays middle linebacker, but he had been an effective deterrent in the passing game for much of the season. Against Utah, he intercepted three passes, and quarterbacks afterward were squeamish when throwing across the middle. Three games later, against Colorado, he tore ligaments in his knee, which knocked him out for the rest of the season.

The very next game was Oregon.

“We did not have too good of a game,” USC Coach Clay Helton deadpanned Wednesday.

Helton said losing Smith for that game hurt, “obviously.”

But Smith said he didn’t watch and wonder if the game would’ve developed differently.

“I would never think that way,” Smith said. “They put everything they had in there, and I think they did a great job.”

That analysis might have been generous. Still, safety Chris Hawkins pointed out, the linebackers were not the problem.

“I really wouldn’t put that game on the linebackers,” Hawkins said. “They completed 21 of 26 passes or something [it was actually 20 of 25]. So I mean, I feel like that game belonged to the DBs. We didn’t do a good enough job as a unit. So we’re hungry for this game. This is a game we’ve been looking forward to. A little bit of revenge, I would say.”

Oregon has stumbled to a 3-5 record, but its offense has been mostly untouched by its defense’s deterioration. Oregon once again leads the conference in rushing, with 248 yards per game. It is fifth in passing, but its aerial attack has gained more potency with the rise of freshman quarterback Justin Herbert, who has been the starter for three games and has already thrown 12 touchdowns and with just two passes intercepted. He is four yards away from 1,000.

“He gets rid of the ball fast,” Smith said. “He looks like he’s in control out there. They’re creating the offense around him.”

It looks a lot like last season’s Ducks offense. Smith prefers seeing them in person.

Big Ten goes Pac

A few days after California Coach Sonny Dykes called the Pac-12 Conference’s weekday games a “disaster,” the Big Ten has unveiled its own plan to play Friday night games starting next season. But the Big Ten is following a different strategy.

Some of the conference’s most lucrative members have declined to fully participate. Ohio State has said it would only host such a game during its fall break. Penn State said it won’t host at all. Michigan said it isn’t interested in any weekday game, home or away.

Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany told the Chicago Tribune that he’d be reluctant to compel those teams to play Friday against their wishes.

Meanwhile, all Pac-12 schools have played weekday games, even those, like California, who were not particularly happy about it.

Speaking before USC’s game against California last Thursday, Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott said the league schedules games based on the parameters set by the schools. And, he said, “we haven’t done anything in this case that’s not within an agreed parameter with all of our schools.”

Quick hits

Quarterback Max Browne said he plans to wait until December to contact other schools about transferring for his final season of eligibility. He said he’ll use November to gauge which teams contact him. USC has allowed other schools to contact Browne and has not placed restrictions on where he can transfer, if he chooses to do so. … Running back Justin Davis did more running drills during Wednesday’s practice but did not participate in full practice. … Helton does not expect defensive back Jonathan Lockett (hip) to play on Saturday. … Running back Aca’Cedric Ware (ankle sprain) did not practice on Wednesday. … Linebacker Michael Hutchings (calf tightness) was pulled from Wednesday’s practice but Helton expects him to return later this week. … Special teams coach John Baxter, an ardent Chicago Cubs fan, asked for an update on the World Series game during a break in Wednesday’s practice. He was the first one to run off the field afterward. ... Tom Nickoloff, a former USC receiver who captained USC’s 1953 Rose Bowl winning team, died at 84.

zach.helfand@latimes.com

Follow Zach Helfand on Twitter @zhelfand